


The Tale of Two

by Spade_Storm



Category: H2O: Just Add Water, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Mako Island, Mermaid Magic, Mermaid Rikki, No Zane, Not Canon Compliant, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Possessive Tony Stark, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-03-21 01:34:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13730316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spade_Storm/pseuds/Spade_Storm
Summary: Rikki has traveled the world and lived her life to the fullest.  While, the others have settled with their lives on land, Rikki remains unfulfilled.She returns to Mako Island, the place of her rebirth, in the hope that Mako will give her another purpose.  Her bond with Mako opens a door to a new world.  A world filled with new rules and dangers.And a man named Tony Stark.





	1. New World and New Faces

**Author's Note:**

> So I was bing watching old shows on Netflix when this hit me.
> 
> Rikki has a tail from Mako Mermaids, which kind of reminds me of a zebra shark, and she is 28.
> 
> Tony Stark is two years pre-Iron Man, age 35.

**_"I feel like I have a new life and I'm going to take full advantage of it." -William Green_  **

* * *

The world's oceans are deep and mysterious.  Mankind knows more about the stars than they do their own oceans.  From these oceans numerous myths and stories have come to litter human history about what creatures may live in the depths of the seas.  Some are creatures of terror like the Kraken or Jormungand, the World Serpent.  There are gods and goddesses of the sea, beings of divine power.  But there is one that has a special place in humanity's heart.

The Mermaid.

Creatures of beauty and mystic.  Beings of dangerous magic and carnivorous appetites.  They are women of power and freedom.  Some believed they are simply witness accounts of sailors mistaking other mammals for the sea myths.  Still, others believed them to be real and simply hidden from view. _These_ people are not wrong.

Rikki Chadwick is a mermaid. 

She is a woman with blemish free fair skin, wavy, platinum hair that goes a little past her shoulders, dark-lashed, sky blue eyes and rosy pink plump lips.  She has had multiple men show their interest but none of them last for long.  This is because her secret is an important part of her life.  Rikki has been a mermaid since she was sixteen when she encountered the magic of a moon pool with two other girls. 

The other girls, Cleo and Emma, were trapped with her during a night where the moon was full and the magic of Mako was cast upon them.  Once they became mermaids, they also gained magical powers.  Ten seconds after being touched by water, they turn into mermaids but _as_ mermaids they can dive to depths humans cannot, hold their breath for more than fifteen minutes and swim at super speeds of 600 km/h or over 372 mph.  Alongside these abilities they also had other powers.  Cleo could manipulate water and Emma could freeze liquids. 

Rikki, after a late start, gained her first power, hydro-thermokinesis, the ability to heat and boil water.  It was an ability that helped the girls out of trouble, especially when the girls needed to a quick dry.  After a number of lunar alignments with Mako Island and inside the moon pool she also gained other abilities: Pyrokinesis and Electrokinesis, control over fire and lightening.

It has been years since she graduated high school and she's made a living as a diver, traveling the world and finding other moon pools.  It was at these other moon pools that she gained other powers, including the abilities of her friends.  Yet, of all of them, she is the only one of her group to continue to grow.  Even the new mermaid to join them, Bella, who loved swimming as much as Rikki, doesn't gain anymore abilities.  They don't feel the same pull as she has ever since she first transformed.  She loves her friends but...

She also resents them.  Just a little.

Rikki remembers her first swim, the awe and magic.  She is the first to embrace her new self and is the only one to make a living with it.  Cleo pursued her science career with her husband, Lewis.  Emma graduated with a business degree and helps her husband, Ash, with his horse school and cafe.  Will, Bella's fiancé, still free dives and Rikki helps sponsor him.  Bella still helps him train but is also expecting their first baby.

Zane has tried to get back into her good grace but she refuses to look back.  He existed in the past as far as she was concerned, not her present or her future.  And even though she is glad he isn't in her life despite his attempts that doesn't mean she's happy.  It just made her more aware of how alone she really is.  

For the first time in years, she was back in the Golden Coast since she graduated and her first stop is Mako Island.  Her new [tail ](http://unnaturalworld.wikia.com/wiki/File:Tumblr_o6kz0ejSRe1rkphoio1_400.gif)is very different from when she first started but her golden bronze and crimson coloring is still the same and it is not the only sign of the changes she's gone through.  Rikki spent a night in a moon pool hidden in a tiny island off of the California coast and found the magic gave her a more...mature [change](http://mermaid.wikia.com/wiki/File:Neried_35.jpg).  No longer does she appear like a girl when she transforms.  The bikini top she once had is replaced by a strapless scale top instead. Rikki knows she looks more like the mermaids of myth, those being of the sea that were enchanting and terrifying.

When she saw the change she was especially glad that Zane no longer was around.  He would have been insufferable.

Her first few swims after felt a bit awkward since the familiar restriction around her neck is gone but she gets over it.  She's a mermaid, what did she have to feel strange about?  Rikki glides through the water currents with an ease born from constant and familiar swims.  Her powerful tail propels her toward her destination without fear.  When she gained the ability to turn invisible that fearlessness also grew to the point of near recklessness.

A oceanographer almost caught her on camera.  

Its the reason she takes her break and goes back on the Golden Coast.  For Mako Island.  Rikki stops speed swimming just before the underwater entrance to the moon pool to run her hand over the cave wall.  Magic tingles her fingertips.  A smile spreads across her face.  It feels like the magic is trying to pull her in, welcoming her home.  She hurries inside and breaks the surface into the moon pool.  The magic of the pool is more prominent than she remembers or maybe its just that she's more _aware_ of the magic than when she was a teenager.  

"Its been almost ten years..." she starts to the empty cave room, the walls sparkling with magic, blue and white.  "...I was born here.  I was made stronger and more...me."

Rikki closes her eyes and floats in the middle of the moon pool.  She stays afloat and sinks into her bond with Mako.  The bond the other girls didn't have or try to make.  The one that slowly erodes over time as they spend more and more time on land.  She reaches into that place inside her that she knows is Mako, its a big and all encompassing presence.  She can't put her finger on what it is.  Its abstract and solid at the same time.  Its staring into the night sky on a clear night and feeling something looking back.  Its floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and knowing its cradling you like a mother holds her baby.

"I feel like I'm sinking..." She pours her every fear and desire into her bond. "...like I'm all that left.  But I don't want to be.  I don't want the others to let go of their lives just to acknowledge me but..."

She just didn't want to be alone anymore.  She wanted that companionship that the girls used to share.  Rikki wanted the joy and trust that her friends had and that Zane robbed her of.  She wanted a new adventure and a new chapter in her life to be worth the effort and struggle that comes with change.  She wanted fire and passion equal to her own.  She wanted a direction to barrel down with all the fearless intelligence and sarcastic wit she's had her entire life.  

"I want...purpose."

Mako explodes across her senses.  Supernovas die and twirl, curling around her soul.  Her vision is blinded by stars birthing stars and black holes stretching across celestial bodies, eating the skeletons of dead worlds.  A funneling of souls ebbs and flows like a stream.  They scream and giggle, live and die.  A helix of planets and worlds form like a braid or a rope of life, pulsing and living.  It dies and crashes in a singularity of power, rising like a swell during a tsunami.  Another takes its place and another and another, broken and alive.  The cold drains the warmth away, consumes the stars and dark matter folds in on itself.

Creation unmade.

Life Renewed.

Rikki snaps her eyes open, gasping hard and struggling to regain her balance.  She flips her tail and flails her arms before she re-stabilizes herself in the moon pool.  She knows what she saw and she doesn't know how to put it into words.  Rikki was given an answer by Mako.  A chance and a choice that will only come with the next full moon.  She's still gasping, her lungs aching with shock and effort, when she comes to a decision.  

"I want it."  She stares hard at the entire moon pool cavern.  "I'll take it."

Mako showed her the door and when it will be open.  All she has to do is make the plans to go through it and she intends to.  She swims back with renewed purpose and excitement.  Rikki spends the next week getting everything together.  It would have been longer but she had already made plans before for a worst case scenario.  She makes Will and Bella the recipients of her fortune, making them and their baby, her heirs.  She even assigns her personal financial advisor and lawyer to them in her will.  

There are also a few contingencies she puts in place to protect them.  She also leaves them a letter, sealed and made to be opened only in absolute privacy for them to read.  In a move out of character for the fierce and independent woman, she tells them what she's done and why.  She tells them to live their lives to the absolute fullest, to be happy, healthy, and safe.  Rikki knows they'll wonder if she safe and happy but she knows they'll do right by her.

She packs a bag of her most precious belongings into a waterproof bag.  Trinkets from her friends and pictures of her parents, when her mother was still alive.  Her favorite sunglasses, the necklace as proof of her bonds with her friends and even her favorite dress.  As if part of a trance, the night of the full moon she puts on her Mako [necklace](https://www.amazon.com/Body-Candy-Necklace-Swarovski-Crystals/dp/B003V5E3X6/ref=br_lf_m_59w6vsmqchow8ca_img?_encoding=UTF8&s=jewelry), fixed with a chain instead of rope, and a white open back [dress ](http://styledos.eu/summerdresses/Summer-beach-dresses-australia.html)that she had never worn before.

With her bag secure on her back she dives into the water, the transformation taking hold between one breath and the next and then she eagerly makes her way back to the island.  During the full moon, Mako looks haunting and ethereal.  

To Rikki, its home.      

* * *

Its very anti-climatic. 

Swimming through a doorway to a new world is not like something from a sci-fi film or anything painful.  When the full moon hovers over the moon pool and the magic builds, she dives.  The bottom of the moon pool is gone, replaced by a dark tunnel, and she super speeds straight into it.  She follows the tunnel to the other side and even though it seems to go on forever, there is a light at the end.  The light grows and she swims even faster but she finally emerges into another moon pool, breaking the surface to the moon pool of Mako.

In a different world.

Rikki can feel the difference.  The air is heavy with magic, dancing and expectant.  She laughs, high with joy and excitement.  She runs her hands over her hair, feeling the magic weaving itself into her skin and her pores.  Her tails lashes out, water and electricity prancing along her spine.  

She spies the moon slowly leaving the moon pool above her and the magic simmering down with it.  But her excitement doesn't abate.  A new world is waiting to be explored and she can't wait to see what's in it.

* * *

Mako hums contently, magic still pulsing.  Its magic creeps along its child's scales and intertwines her new purpose into her soul.  She is young but her potential will only grow now that she is in a place where the magic is not hampered but the might of science.

A new life starts now.


	2. Meeting Iron Man...sort of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rikki realizes just what world she's ended up in.
> 
> Than catches the eye of Tony Stark.

**_"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains." -Rosa Luxemburg_ **

* * *

Rikki didn't build her own fortune on hope alone.  She had to work out what would and would not work for her.  She had to take some loses before she realized what was the best way to maximize her profits and her reputation.  Above all, she didn't build it staying glued to Zane's side.  That first night when she dreams, she dreams of the other Rikki, of what could have been if she had never become a mermaid.

Rikki of this world doesn't form the same kind of bonds as her.  Emma goes on to perform as a professional athlete without ever even knowing her name.  Cleo knows her from a few group projects they've done together but they don't have the same level of friendship that Rikki is familiar with.  That's fine.  She doesn't want replacements for her friends.  Making new ones will be a pain but she's had practice with her tours.  

It won't be so bad with so many new things to explore.  

Besides that, Rikki was the loner and the outcast.  Her words cut the popular idols and the pride of the rich around her.  She danced to her own tune and cared little for what the clichés had to say about her.  She made average grades and excelled at finance management.  Its for the latter that Zane approached her.  To join him in a business venture independent from his father's empire so that he could prove himself as a capable heir. 

He didn't think she would make the business such a success.

The cafe becomes a booming success with her in charge within the first eight months.  Right out of high school she runs the juice cafe full time and when this Rikki becomes twenty she manages to get enough capital to open two more shops.  While business booms, her relationship with Zane strains.  At first they were just business partners but a little over a year he asks her out. 

She agrees.  Determined not to be like her mother, who had her as a teenager than dumped her on her dad and ran off, she refused to have sex with him.  Of course, someone like Zane doesn't take no for an answer.  He tries to push her, to pressure her, and she soundly rebuffs him each time.  Rikki is not one to be intimidated into doing anything she didn't want to.    

So he goes for the next best thing.  Miriam Kent, their high school popular girl, has always wanted to be the center of attention and was there when Zane needed her to be.  But this Rikki found out and broke it off, both relieved and disappointed.  She takes her shares, her investments and leaves.  She reinvests in a number of other companies and tries to start over.  

She does okay.  This Rikki didn't have magic or a mermaid secret to keep but she does well for herself.  

This Rikki tries to date but besides one that lasted a year, all of them failed.  Unable or unwilling to accept her independent and wild nature or having had Zane whisper in their ear.  Its at this time that Rikki realizes what kind of world she's become a part of.  This Rikki has traveled, not as much as during Rikki's tour, but enough.  It is these trips that show glimpses of a man with a familiar goatee and even more familiar lifestyle.  

Tony Stark.

* * *

When Rikki wakes up, she makes her way back to the city and her condo.  It looks like her own with a few differences because the old Rikki was not a mermaid.  But the adjustments are easy to fix.  She goes straight for her laptop and put in the name from her dreams.

Like a bad omen, he pops up on her screen.  Except its not as a comic or movie character but as a real, living breathing human being.

"Oh god." She covers her mouth in horror. "I'm in one of those cheesy dimension stories! No worse. I'm in a freaky alien movie."

She puts the computer to the side with a groan.  She vaguely remembers the first Iron Man movie something about a bomb and terrorist.  The Avengers had aliens coming out of a portal and terrible spies.  Who exposes their organization to a former weapons builder?  Rikki had issues with spies and anything dealing with secret government projects.  Its also the reason Tony Stark was her favorite character because she distinctly remembers him telling the Senate or whoever off when they demanded his armor.  

Rikki sure as hell wouldn't give herself or her powers over if the Australian government told her to.

But that's besides the point.  This universe is a hot bed mess and she hasn't even been here for more than a full twenty four hours.  On the other hand, finding a mermaid would not even rate in the top ten weirdest or most interesting discovery.  Maybe.  Hopefully.

"Well its not like I can leave now."

The moon pool wouldn't be able to send her to another world for years and technically, what did she have to lose being here?  Its not like she can't defend herself or that she's a genius weapons inventor.  So long as she manages to avoid any of the "heroes" she should be fine and she's familiar enough with the most important bits of the marvel films to know what and where to avoid.  If this universe follows the movies.  Weren't the films based off of comics?

"Oh to hell with it." 

She pulls her laptop back toward her and closes her browser.  In the end her life doesn't revolve around these people.  Just as it doesn't revolve around Zane or anyone else.  She came here for a new start, a fresh world.  There's plenty of treasure just waiting to be found.  If no one's found them yet she can start in a few days.  She'll need several things first so that she won't be fined and a proper sponsor so that they don't try and steal her profits.

Rikki learned her lesson well from the first time.  Its easier after that. 

* * *

It only takes her about seven months to get back to where she's comfortable with in her life.  If that makes her selfish well too bad.  The world is a selfish and dangerous place.  Rikki is used to a certain level of comfort and enjoys it.  She didn't sit around on her ass waiting for a payout.  Rikki earned her comforts and she knew it.  

After a few days to get her affairs settled, an iron clad contract with a small company just starting out that won't try to snatch up most of her profits, several Miner's Licenses to ensure what she finds isn't considered theft, a private boat, and she was set.  Rikki has a system in place for when she dives and having used it for so long makes it easy.  She finds familiar treasure and not so familiar relics.  Her profits and reputation climbs.  

She writes a new book.

The company she's with, also grows.  She travels around, finding new treasure and new secrets of the seas.  The Loch Ness Monster?  That's definitely a water horse, very friendly.  They played for a while before it was called back to its pod.  Apparently, Loch Ness is part of their nesting grounds.  The things you learn.

Its because she's traveling that she comes to find herself in California, America.  She remembers there being a really good find off the coast somewhere near the hidden moon pool.  It won't take her long to find it after a bit of scouting plus the moon will be full in a few days.  The pull to the moon pool will show her the way. 

In the meantime, there's a charity event hosted by the Maria Stark Foundation.  Normally, she'd tick to her plan to avoid anything Stark related but it _is_ a charity and there shouldn't be a reason for Tony to notice her.  She's a woman among dozens who will no doubt be there.  Rikki will get a chance to mingle, network, and make a donation.  Hopefully without any drama.

Plus, the company representative, she really needs to work to remember her name, practically begged her to go.  

She had her hair straightened and picks out a red [dress ](https://www.promgirl.com/shop/dresses/viewitem-PD862363)that she just bought a few days ago.  Rikki's matured in a lot of ways over the years and she's learned to embrace all parts of herself.  The feminine and soft part of her is not a weakness.  She goes to the event with a chauffeur from the hotel.  She's got millions and is still finicky when it comes to her money.  

The party is already underway with people showing up and she has the distinct impression this night will not be as fun as she had hoped.  At the door with his father is someone Rikki had hoped not to see. 

Zane Bennett.

Fuck.

* * *

She manages to make it through the front door without being stopped by him but he still sees her.  

Rikki draws attention but its the kind she's used to.  Men stare and undress her with her eyes but she deals with it by ignoring them.  She moves easily through the crowd and finds the kind of crowd she's looking for.  Its as she's talking to a group of older woman from a mix of old and new money that Zane comes up to her.

"Pardon me ladies." He smiles at everyone, trying and failing to be charming.  Rikki isn't the only one to notice Miriam glaring at his back a little way behind him.  "May I steal this lovely lady away for a dance?"

He holds his hand out toward her and while none of them are pleased he's cut the conversation short, they don't make a scene.  Harrison Bennett is somewhat respected among the business sector.  She takes his hand with a blank look on her face and she knows that's telling to the other women.  No doubt they'll go hunting for information and pull up all the "dirty" details.  Nothing harmful to her but she wasn't going to tell Zane that.  When they get to the dance floor, she makes sure to keep a respectful distance between them.  She doesn't let him try and pull her closer.

"You look good." He tells her.

"Thank you." She nodded her head before going for the heart. "What do you want?"

"Always straight to the point." He tries to deflect but she stares him down.  "I need your help."

"With the shop?"

"Yeah.  The shops aren't doing too good."

"So ask your dad for a loan."  Zane grimaces and shakes his head.

"He won't offer anything else.  Either I save the shop or he cuts me off." 

They go around the dance floor one more time before she turns back to him.  

"You did this before, too.  Except I don't work for you so you can figure this out on your own."

She breaks away and slips into the crowd before he can pull them into another dance to try and convince her to go back.  Why would she?  Why would she want to go back to something that didn't make her happy?  Zane didn't even try to understand her.  Not before and not now.  Especially not now with how different she is.  Rikki makes her way to the bar for a drink, nothing to hard.  

She can't risk it.  She can't risk a lot of things but that doesn't mean she can't live a little.

Her eyes spy a man in an expensive suit and the bartender placing a shot in front of him.  She snatches it before he does and knocks it back.  It burns going down but it also helps relax her.  

"That was a huge turn on."

She turns and meets another of the men she didn't want to meet.  Tony Stark.  Double Fuck.   

"Too bad you're not."  His expression of outrage makes something warm and vindictive curl in her belly.

"I will have you know that I am incredibly attractive."

"And I will have you know that I'm not sleeping with you."  She gestures over his shoulder at another woman currently eyeing the billionaire like a piece of meat.  "Miss Pink panther however looks more than happy to have a go right now."

The woman wore an actual soft [pink ](https://www.promgirl.com/shop/dresses/viewitem-PD1723133?gclid=CjwKCAiAz-7UBRBAEiwAVrz-9QHrijjYeZPPQcP1iPjCML_x-FuCc8N8A1zntPUjOXvbhH-6DfgkkhoC2doQAvD_BwE)dress and had a healthy caramel complexion to match her brunette hair.  She was very pretty even if she gave Rikki the creeps.  There is something very wrong with women who see a man and see an easy ride.  Tony glances over at the woman and than turns back with a more strained smile.

"Oh come on. I've got better taste than that."  He stands a little closer to her but not in a threatening way. 

"Really? I couldnt tell. They all look the same to me." 

"So you admit to looking me up!"  His eyes light up and Rikki can feel her fingers twitch.  She wants to touch him all of a sudden.

"More like it's impossible not to.  Your mug is everywhere.  Like a most wanted poster."

"Ouch.  Just pain."  He exaggerates a wound to the heart with both hands.

"Rikki" Zane, again! "Rikki can we talk."

He turns his eyes onto her and slumps his shoulders.  Its his wounded look.  Its his way of seeming to be smaller than he really is.

"Sorry but I've been offered a dance." She slips her hand into Tony's arm.  "I don't want to look bad and be rude."

Tony grins at Zane and smoothly escorts Rikki into the next dance.  His strides are smooth and easy to follow.  His hands hold her with a gentleness that she did see.  They're warm and don't push or pull at her hips.  

"Lovers quarrel?"

"No, my ex." He pulls her close and she lets him. "You mind playing my playing my knight in shining Armani?"

He puts an arm around her waist.  Her breath hitches, just a tad.  

"If you don't mind doing the same?" His brown eyes are serious and dark.  Suddenly, his dislike for the other woman makes sense.  

"Don't expect to get drunk around me.  Alcohol tends to disappear."

"Like that last bit?"

"No. That's me being nice.  Usually it ends up in the drain.  Who's your ex?"

"Sunset Bain, the one in pink. From Baintonics, Inc, manipulative and crazy."

"Bet there's more to it but anything you know to get under her skin?"  Tony's eyes and smile lights up.  

"Hates being showed up.  Your prettier and hopefully, not crazy."

She can't help but laugh.  She doesn't know if being a mermaid and being okay with that counts as being crazy.  Still, he's being surprisingly open and she finds herself opening up to him.  Its strange.  She can tell he's being honest with her and she's never felt that with anyone before.  Not even Zane.

"Thank you.  I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Zane Bennett.  His dad probably brought him here after the business we had started to fail when I told him off and left.  He also hates being second best in just about everything.  You're dancing with me so you've already got one up on him."

"You sound like you managed him and your buisness just fine.  What's different?"

"He might use the fact I didn't have sex with him against me."

"Was there a reason for the no sex thing?" 

The music ends but they keep dancing into the next song.  It brings attention to them as several patrons notice that they've steadily kept each other's attention.

"I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't end up like my mother.  I've had a few lovers but nothing long lasting.  Of course, Zane has never been one to know when to take no for an answer. So he cheated on me with our high school idol.  That's who he brought as his date by the way."

"He didn't try to force himself on you?" Tony's voice becomes low and dangerous.  It sends a thrill of pleasure through her and she doesn't know why. 

"No. I made sure he knew he'd regret it if he did. Didn't stop him from cheating on me but that's his lost not mine."

"Damn straight." He grins. "And now you've moved on."

"Pft." She smiles back at him.  Damn but he's weirdly charming. "Your not my type."

"What? I'm everyone's type. Rich, handsome, super hot bode _and_ I'm a genius. Can't forget that."

"And your also not interested in a relationship or kids."

"I..."  The last part throws him.  Rikki can tell and feels a bit bad about that.  

"It's fine. I'm not ready for kids right now either but I don't do one night stands."

She couldn't take the risk.

"How about dinner?"

"That's not a bad strategy."

"That and we can actually get dinner.  My treat of course and no one will think anything of it."

"Of us leaving? Oh, I'm sure they'll have plenty to think and say."  She thinks for a moment but catch a glance over Tony's shoulder and sees Zane staring at them, looking like a prissy cat.  Miriam keeps looking between Zane and her on the dance floor.  She really didn't want to deal with this drama.  There's a reason she dropped him.  "I want lobster, wild and fresh caught."

"Oh! A woman who knows what she wants."

"Careful playboy," she shoots back, "someone might think you were interested."

They leave with little fanfare.  Tony leads her out of the charity with the stride of someone who believes he owns the world and she thinks its funny.  She can tell he's putting on a show for her.  Playing the crowd and rubbing salt in the wound for the haters and the jealous.  He has his driver out in the front waiting for them and calls someone named Fredric to get a VIP area is prepped. 

The ride is easy as they lambast their exes and the shitty things they've done.  Bain stole technology from his father's company.  Zane tried to steal her shares in the company when she was left.  Thirty minutes later they pull up to a restaurant, [Nobu ](http://www.10best.com/destinations/california/los-angeles/malibu/restaurants/nobu-malibu/)Malibu.  They get seating on the outdoor patio, with lush seating, beautiful lighting, an umbrella overhead, and a fantastic view of the seaside.

"Well you really know how to impress someone."  She says after their order arrives.  She did say she wanted lobster but she certainly wasn't expecting him to practically order half the menu.

"Thank you." He visibly preens like a peacock with a devil-may-care grin.  "You seem like a woman not easily impressed."

She smiles a secret smile.  After becoming a mermaid, undergoing the trials that come with it and saving the planet from an asteroid impact, Rikki was hard to be amazed by the mundane.  But this felt different for some reason.  It felt good and made butterfly flutter in her belly.

"Right so, impress me." Snapping up a bit of lobster tail, she takes a bite. "What is the most daring thing you've ever done?"

Tony raises his eyebrows in surprise.  Women usually just throw themselves at him or slink up to him and try to seduce some secret here or there out in the open.  That or its about his company and his inventions or about how great his dad was.  The other side hated his guts and tore into him about being a war profiteer.  Its why he stuck with one night stands but this woman...she was genuine.  There was this pull to her he didn't ignore.  Something that sang to him, telling him she was different.

"Well, there was one time my best friend and I ended up in a gay bar..." he answers with a grin.

Like a dam breaking open, they talk, sharing stories and experiences, letting down their guard and the walls they'd built.  They started with easy sense of comradery, of the familiar daring-and-fearless-live-only-once mentality easing some of the initial hesitation.  Pranks that went wrong or very right.  Adventures that they've had out of the country and people they've meet.  Tales of idiots trying to one up them in business or rip them off. 

Its only hours later that two lonely people can be seen cuddling and laughing together on the love seat in one of the most romantic restaurants in Malibu.


	3. Its Magic!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tail...and the ring!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my aim here was to not only move the relationship forward but to also establish that possessive Tony bit from the tags.
> 
> In my mind he's like a dragon very happy when his hoard is bright and shiny and healthy. Or a fat house cat whose managed to properly train its human(s).

**_"A woman's heart is an ocean of secrets." -Gloria Stuart_ **

_" **If we knew each other's secrets, what comforts we should find." -John Churton Collins**_

* * *

She doesn't sleep with him like she said.  But Tony is okay with that.  They exchange numbers before he goes home.  After dropping her off, warm and content, he takes a shower and falls to sleep. 

Its the best sleep he's had in years.

* * *

They meet again and go to an arcade.

Its not the last time they spend time together.  It happens again and again.  They go to parties and galas together, mingle for a respectful while before leaving to dinner or to do something else.  There was one memorable occasion they both went to a karaoke bar that ended with Rikki rushing Tony to the hospital for food poisoning.  ~~The apprentice chef didn't cook the pufferfish like he should have.~~   After spending days with him in the hospital, this something between them, changed even more.  It became charged and intense. 

Neither are inclined to pull away from it but neither do they acknowledge it.

Getting together starts to happen frequently but they tried to be discrete.  However, there was no hiding that it was happening more than a few times.  It happened often enough that people started to notice.  A pattern starts to appear in front of them on nights where Rikki is and is not around.  With the former, it is as if no one else existed in the entire room.  They work the crowd, smiles and words flowing easily, like they'd been born to do this.

Like they had done this at each other's side all their lives.

Tony Stark could be seen turning down drinks!  And even the most enticing of beauties could not lure the Stark billionaire from his date's side or into his bed for the night.   Woah it be to any man who tried to take her away from him!  As charismatic as Stark is reported to be many forget that he raised his father's company from a multimillion dollar to a multibillion dollar _weapons_ manufacturing company.  This is a man who has gone head to head with conservative old patriots and military generals hungry for the next best toy.  

Tony Stark is a _Predator_.

He lets them see it.  Just a glimpse but the people only need a glimpse to be unnerved enough not to try again.  But someone always tries.  ~~It makes some part inside of Tony snarl and hiss at them, at the interlopers and imposters.~~   His mind flashes back to when he was a child and Howard would ignore the men touching his mother, offering her thinly veiled promises and subtly leering at her throughout the night.  Howard trusted his mother not to accept their advances but that was it.  He never saw his father draw a line in the sand.

There was no other protection for Maria Stark besides her charm, her wit and sheer iron will.  When he took over the company, a memo went out to all female employees that attending a Stark Industries function required that they bring a guest and it was an unspoken rule that guest should be someone male.  ~~There's a reason S.I. safety rating has been steadily climbing in recent years~~.  

He wouldn't let that stand in his company and especially not for _his_ guest.  His friend. ~~That little voice croons and whispers, _mine,mine,mine,mine_~~.

When she is not present, he drank but never got drunk and didn't drink to excess like before.  He allowed women to drape themselves over him but his eyes always drifted away, searching the crowd for someone in particular.  The number of women brought to his bed saw a clear decrease over the following months.  As they grew closer, the number continued to drop. 

All of it, people could see growing into something over the months.

The gossipers tittered on about the woman who seemed to have gained the attention of America's Most Eligible Bachelor.  A foreigner from Australia, formerly in a business/intimate relationship with Zane Bennett, son of Harrison Bennett, who now free dives in the open ocean for relics and treasure.  She's done rather well for herself so she can't be with him for the money unless she's looking for a suitable husband?

She's certainly a pretty thing.  Oh, but she's not just a foreigner! According to Zane's new fiancé Miriam Kent, Rikki Chadwick is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa.  Her mother left her father, who couldn't hold down a job and returned to his home country, Australia.  They lived in a trailer park for years before she made it big.  The information explodes within the gossip circles.

'Why did her mother leave?' _'Was he abusive or a drunk?'_ 'Maybe she left because she wasn't mother material?' _'What if they were part of a criminal syndicate and went separate ways because of their daughter?'_ 'Did Tony Stark know his girlfriend was a mix blood?'

Of course, this brought out Tony's many supporters, mainly from Stark Industries itself.  

 _'Howard Stark grew up from poverty.  He'd like her, you know._ ' 'Both of Tony's parents died so young but look at all he's done!' _'Howard and Maria come from Italian background does that make them part of the Italian mob?  Don't be silly.'_ 'Zane Bennett cheated on her, you know? Its no wonder she left him.' _'Tony Stark knows how to take care of a lady and she is definitely a lady to keep.'_

The papers try to capitalize on this but find it increasingly difficult with how divided the rich elite have become.  There are obvious lines drawn.  It is hard to tell who has started what rumors and who knows what facts.  ~~There are plenty of people who have an interest in Rikki Chadwick and Tony Stark not pursuing a more intimate and permanent relationship~~.

Unfortunately, Rikki and Tony didn't gossip or share details, often deflecting any questions when asked. 

For the two, what was between them was as simple as a dance to madness.  They didn't want what the other had or offered but the attraction was heavy and tense.  It brought them ever closer, like magnets they were aware of the other, their presence and warmth.  Something in them beaconed to the other, called out and they could not help but answer.  They were at the same time, weak and powerful beyond measure.

And they had a breaking point.

* * *

Rikki has been to Tony's Malibu mansion only twice before and she made sure never to stay too long, least she risk giving in to temptation.  Other times are public venues, resturants, and more than once an empty boardwalk.  But he's never been to Rikki's home.  To be fair, Rikki only got her new home after a recent dive which proved to be much more lucrative here than in her own universe.

The only reason she didn't have her own house before was due to her father.  Terry Chadwick raised her by himself after his high school girlfriend, ironically one of the popular girls, left because of money problems.  By problems, Rikki means that her mother, who was used to a certain level of luxury that her dad just couldn't provide and often spent more than they actually had.  Two years after high school she left back to her parents with some sob story and Terry found himself unable to hold a job higher than a janitor for any longer than a few years.  Even when they moved to Australia when Rikki was five, he had a hard time keeping a steady job.

Not anymore.

Terry Chadwick is retired. 

He lives in his own beach [front ](https://www.trendir.com/airy-beachfront-home-with-contemporary-casual-style/)home where he can fish, tinker on old bikes in his garage, and relax in his own personal swimming pool.  It was a large and airy home.  It is a large difference from the trailer home they lived in for more than a decade.  Of course, she did more than get him a house.  She set him up with a personal financial advisor, a lawyer, enough to pay for the taxes on the house for the next few years, and a generous retirement package.  

Even if something happened to Rikki, the investments she's made on his behalf and with the advisors' help, he will live comfortably for years.

With her father set, Rikki focused on herself and her most recent haul put her well above her previous income.  Her new house was inspired by a Haweii architect designer and included a lot of features that she loved, especially the wood furnishings.  The pool in the front and how close it was to the beach is also a plus.  It reminded her of being within the moon pool on Mako Island.  

There were extra bedrooms and bathrooms if she ever brought guests over.  She also had virtually no neighbors since the property is built right next to a rough patch of rock that made it undesirable for most swimmers and families.  Those people are not her.  They are not mermaids.  Her closest neighbors were further along the coast side where the water was deeper, better for those with boats or speedboats.  

Her bedroom was the master bedroom right beside the pool area and the kitchen.  Rikki keeps it clean easily despite how big it is.  Moving in is even easier since the most she has is clothes and shoes.  There are a few trinkets and some jewelry but that's it.  Everything that Zane gave her she left with him and she's never gotten anything for her birthday from her dad in years.

It almost makes her feel alone in her new [home](http://www.carrie-nicholson.com/kealohikaihome) but Tony Stark changes that.  He becomes her first guest. 

* * *

_January 22, 2008_

 

She didn't feel like going out and planned to stay inside, watching her new favorite tv show.  A text from Tony changes that.  Dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, a loose blouse and mismatched socks, she goes out to her front door.  It was sunny and a warm breeze ruffled her loose hair.

"Well if it isn't my own prince charming." she calls to him taking in his slacks with a band t-shirt and a suit jacket, leaning against a gorgeous red [Audi ](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Audi_R8_\(Audi_Forum_Neckarsulm\).jpg)r8.  The newest one on the market she can tell.  Why he bought another one is beyond her but there is no doubt he'll tell her soon enough.

"In style my birthday lady!" He opens his arms wide, with a bouquet of red roses and a large brown bag of take out. "Without the horses though.  That would be messy and I love your choice in footwear."

She goes down to greet him, laughing easily and hugs him.  Everything is easy between them, so easy its frightening and they don't say a word about it.  She lets him in and takes the flowers from him.  She takes them to her kitchen to carefully put in water.

"My socks _are_ awesome aren't they?  And my birthday was days ago.  I know I didn't tell you."

"Nope. So mean by the way." He starts placing a near feast out on the dining table with many of her favorites like hamburger sliders and even a chocolate fruit [cake](http://indulgy.com/post/2ZWvcZepX2/chocolate-fruit-cake-yummy). "Your dad told me when I stopped by yesterday.  He loves the new fishing rods I got him by the way."

"Of course he did." Rikki stops when her hands pick up a key wrapped around one of the roses. "What's this, Tony?"

It belonged to an Audi and she was now suspicious of the red car in front of her house.  She dumps the last of the roses in the vase and holds up the key in the air toward the billionaire.

"You don't have a car."

"I can rent a car or a taxi."

"You live in a house twenty minutes from the city and you don't have a car." Tony deadpans.  "Don't you love watching horror movies? Are you seeing any parallels here?" 

Rikki huffs but understands what he's trying to say.

"Fine but you can be sure to expect something ridiculous for your birthday.  An ugly blowup doll or something."

She grumbles that last bit without any heat and Tony laughs at her.  She really will need to do something for his birthday though.  The stupid man was just too adorable not to.  ~~And Rikki will die before ever saying that out loud~~.

The mermaid puts the key on the countertop before taking a seat at the dining table.  From there they enjoy each other's company, eat and drink a little of the Jameson whiskey Rikki keeps in the house.  She feels safe with Tony and here in her own home, she's comfortabale with a glass or two.  In the meantime, Tony rants about the shareholders' meeting and the general insanity that comes with running a successful fortune 500 company.  

"You sound like you need a vacation."

"That sounds like an invitation, Red."

She smiles at her nickname, gained for her habit of wearing something red.  Which she really can't seem to help, having fire as her first element and her most favorite to use, that attachment manifested in her everyday preferences.  

"If you mean the spare bedroom, yes.  My bedroom is off limits Playboy."

A strange look passes his face then his expression closes off completely.  Alarm bells ring and her heart starts to race for some reason.  He's never done this before.

"Yeah, they brought you up at the meeting too."

"I don't see why." She starts cautiously, "Unless Stark Industries is interested in my treasure hunting."

He grimaces and suddenly those alarm bells become Hurricane Warning Sirens.

"Not, well- no, just, not like you thinking.  So you know the rumors flying out of the gossip rags about us eloping?"

"Ugh. The absolute horse shit that's been going around and that has my co-divers asking if I'm pregnant? _No_ , I know nothing at _all_."  

The newest bit of gossip to make the rounds was that Tony got Rikki pregnant and now they were staying together to cover it up.  Which is beyond crazy since they've never even had sex!  Another reason she's felt the need to stay home rather than go out to a club or lounge to unwind.  But Rikki has long since learned that people are stupid.  It was every other day that the gossip rags ran some story about the two of them and they weren't even a couple.  It really ticked her off.

"People are stupid." She tells Tony, compeletly unapologetic.  

It makes the genius laugh in disbelief, he takes his shot and then takes another.  She lets it go because Rikki doesn't plan to let him drive or go home in any other kind of state besides sober. 

"You can include my shareholders, too."

"What?"  What the fuck was he talking about?

"They wanted to know if there was a legitimate heir on the way or if we were waiting."

"What?" Is he fucking with her?  _Please_ let him be fucking with her.

"I told them we're just friends and then they asked if there was sex because _apparently_ if I'm not a woman's boss or having sex we can't be friends.  Which, to steal your words, is just stupid."

Tony stops his rambling and does this twitchy thing with his hands that Rikki hates because it means he's going to say something he can't believe actually happened but did.  Those things are usually bad things that happened to him like the whole thing with Sunset. ~~Rikki still wants to set her on fire but that would be noticeable so she refrains from doing that~~. 

"This guy, he's like older than Obie ancient, stands up to pat me on the shoulder and goes on about how special you must be if I'm waiting so long to pop the question.  How you must be," Tony raises his hands and makes air quotes, "a 'True Lady' if I'm tripping all over my feet to "woo" you and protect your reputation.  Then he went on and on about how refreshing it is to see me so flustered over a pretty lady like my old man and what a gentleman I've been and how I'll be the kind of father that Howard and my mother would be proud of and...and..."

He trails off and takes another shot.  Rikki took two.  They were quite a pair, she knew, with their parent issues.  Except his father was distant before both of his parents died and Rikki's mother left because her dad wasn't smart enough to make money rain from the sky.  The care and adoration Maria Stark shared with her son is something Rikki will never have, just like Tony will never have the same kind of close knit relationship she has with her dad, with his.

Both of them had scars because of these losses and they manifested in different ways.  But the relationship between the two of _them_...

"None of the rumors are true." she whispers gently and she hates herself for having to say it.

For the first time in months, since she first meet him almost a year ago, she realizes that she _wants_ that kind of relationship and that kind of life with him.  She wants to spend the years sharing jokes and laughs.  Rikki wants to lean on him and let him know he can lean on her in hard times.  ~~Oh sweet Mako  are there hard times ahead~~.

Rikki takes the bottle and pours the whiskey until the cup is almost full.  Its way more than a shot but she doesn't care.  Rikki has a feeling she'll need it for the rest of this conversation.

"...it could be."  She can feel him staring at her.

She downs half the cup before inhaling but resolutely does not look at him.  The whiskey tastes like ash in her mouth.

"No. Tony you don't want that.  Why would you want that?" She spills, a sudden panic gripping her.

"Why not?"

He moves to look her in the face and she abruptly stands to get away.  How could he? Why would he? He doesn't know her.  He couldn't possibly feel that for her.

"I'm not someone you should want to have that with, Tony."

She moves further away from the dining table, hoping warmth from the sun will chase away the cold that's settled in her stomach.

"I do.  I really do and you know why?" His voice comes from right behind her.  "Because I'm _better_ when I'm with you.  I know you well enough to know you don't give a rats ass about my money and your pride means you aren't the type of steal from me.  It means you'd rather set yourself on fire before you bow your head and grovel at my feet or kiss my ass.  Every time we're together its like I'm on free on such an viscerally intimate level I can't begin to put words to but it feels so fucking good and I want it.  Jesus Christ, Rikki, I had to have Rhodey point it out to me and than Jarvis show me evidence!  I'm drinking less and eating more.  I sleep and stay asleep without nightmares about my parents _dying_ for the first time in years.  I feel better when I'm with you.  I _am_ better with you.  I'm happy _with_ you."

She doesn't know what to say to that.  Rikki can't find a voice for why they shouldn't despite having so many reasons for it.  

"Unless I am the reason we can't at least try because I can't seem to do anything without fucking up.  What did I do, Rikki?  Was it the one night stands? I haven't had any in two months and that's because all I could think about is you.  All I can think about now is you and I know you care for me.  But for some reason you won't even look at me right now.  So tell me.  How did I fuck this up before I even realized we could have something?"

"This isn't about you Tony!" Rikki snaps and turns to face him. "It's about me and being afraid to share my secrets. Or am I suddenly not allowed to feel fear?  Am I suddenly not allowed to feel insecure about my secrets?"

"Of course not!" Tony rushes just as passionately, putting his arms around her waist, except he isn't daunted by her expressing her feelings.  Her fear.  Her rage and he knows he's got to watch for it.  Her fury has burned more than a few unlucky politicians.  Rikki isn't Maria Stark, a social butterfly but a butterfly nonetheless.  No, not one bit.  Red is every bit a wild cat, a shark with a bite as bad as her bark.

If anything it enables him because whether or not she realizes, she's just opened a special kind of door for him and Tony Stark is nothing if not an opportunist.  She never said she _didn't_ want him.  Only that her secrets made her afraid to.  He can work with that even as she puts her arms against his chest to put some distance between them. 

"I'm only asking that you trust me like I trust telling you about Sunset and Aunt Peggy.  I'm asking you to be as honest with me as I know you are with everyone else.  Or am I going to have to put on the kiddie gloves and treat you like some kind of mute Ariel?"

He says that last with a serious expression but she can tell he's trying to joke.  To ease some of the building tension between them except his words hit a little too close to home.  Her reaction is nothing short of impulsive. 

 ~~Later, she'll blame it on the whiskey and pour the rest of it down the drain~~.  Rikki gives a frustrated scream and pushes him into the pool.  With his arms around her, she falls in right after. 

* * *

For a fleeting second Tony felt betrayed. 

Felt that Rikki pushing him into the pool was another strike against him.  That this was her saying she'd had enough.  That Tony Stark had finally overstepped and this was the end.  Then she's right there in the pool with him and he sees it.

That _change_.  

Tony Stark is a genius but so many people discount what this really means.  'Genius' isn't a title to be thrown around nilly willy.  Tony's brain worked on an entirely different level.  He saw the world on an entirely different level.  Its allowed him to raise the weapons race to the next level and Rikki likes to tell him its all just wasted genius.  Its because of her that he's started an interest in making other forays into technology development.  Nothing solid but plenty of blueprints to keep him busy until he decides how to handle his weapons sector.

Some of those blueprints include new ideas for divers but now he can see that those ideas are moot. For Rikki at least.  He captures the moment and knows that this will stay with him for the rest of his life.

He's right. So right.

The water seems to glow with her there, shining around her, and then she _is_ water.  Her entire body disappears upon touching the pool, clothes and hair with her.  Everything is gone and when she returns, seconds later, she's different.  Very different.

A tail.

She had a tail.  It radiated gold and red scales...no, not just scales but _jewels_.  His fine eye can see that some of her scales appear to be made of actual, _fucking_ , jewels.  Her chest is also covered similarly with scales and her skin had a bronze glow to it.  There was no doubt in Tony's mind that if he saw her above water she'd sparkle with a golden-bronze hue as if someone had poured her in body glitter.  He spins around as she circles him and he stares in awe at the stretching and pulling of muscles before him.

There is no way that's fake or a hallucination.  Its not a knock off mono fin made tail from the recent mermaid movies that are incredibly popular.  ~~Which he absolutely did not watch during one of his many hangovers.  No siree, not him~~.  Its longer than any tail in production and the muscles are smooth, curling naturally at the knees or where her knees would be like a dolphin.  She's so close to him, he can make out the lack of seams and it just expounds on the fact that she changed right _in front_ of him.

There is no way she's fake.  He can't deny the word, the myth that's lured sailors to their deaths at sea.

 _Mermaid_. 

If Rikki is an example of that myth made real than damn if he didn't understand what compelled those sailors to go over.

It also started to make sense.  The avoidance, the distance and isolation.  The solo diving and the absent drinking.  The deflection of government trust.  He can't blame her for keeping this secret.  He really can't but that she held such a secret for so long, from the world just to protect herself, just proved him right.  That she was worth all this effort and the chance at happiness that Rhodey says he deserves.

She stops her circle and faces him, chest to chest.  He doesn't hesitate to wrap his arm around her waist and kick up to the surface.  He can feel when she thrusts her tail behind her, can feel the pressure and power as it pushes them to the surface better than his measly pair of legs.  

"Oh." He says when they break the surface, looking at her, he's right again about the glitter.  

"Yeah, oh." She's tense and he can't help himself.

"I still think my secrets are bigger."  Rikki blinks at him and even as her expression starts to go blank, it says everything she isn't.  "I'm being serious. They are! I'm Tony Stark, you know.  You being a mermaid does not top the fact that I ended up at a gay bar when I was eighteen and convinced a drag queen to doll me up.  There is no media outlet in the world that will take a mermaid over Tony Stark in drag any day.  _Ever_."

"You're such a dork."

There's a smile! Its really tiny but he can see it.  Tony gives her a winning smile because he knows it annoys her in a way that makes her laugh.  There's a tug at the corner of her lips and he wiggles his eyebrows, knowing he looks so weird but he gets a laugh!  He pulls her closer to him now that she's relaxed against him.

"Can I kiss you now?"

"Tony." Trepidation is back but its weak.

"I'm only asking for a kiss. Just a kiss."

"You want more than a kiss."

"You're right. I want more and so do you." Tony stares her down.  She refused to look at him, refused to let him see the want he can see now.  "But I'm willing to take baby steps.  Super baby steps, go as slow as you want which is probably for the best by the way.  That's it and only if you're willing. I'm willing to take the risk and try but I won't use _this_ against you."

He caresses the top of her tail as he says the last bit and her breath hitches in surprise. Curious.  How does her brain interpret the signals from her tail?  Is it the same with her legs? Or is it more like with a sea mammal?  Wait.  Stop.  Redirect. 

"It might not work out.  You could have anyone else in the world.  Someone normal.  Someone safe."

"I'm Tony Stark.  There's no such thing as safe or normal for me but there's this amazing woman.  She doesn't take my shit or anyone else's.  There's this fire to her, you know, and I'm spellbound every time I lay my eyes on her because she's come so far.  She's become a very dear friend to me but my best friend made a point about how good we are for each other and I've got to agree with him.  There's this air of satisfaction I get just being near her and that I hope I give her.  She knows what she wants and she goes for it.  But there's this other side that I think is even more attractive.  Its this part of her that has no problem telling someone to fuck off because she knows they're not good for her and for some damn reason she thinks I'm someone _good_ enough to be around her.  I've got no idea what she sees in me but damn if I don't see all the good she brings me.  She's got her secrets, yeah, and she's just as terrified as I am.  But, I want to make her _my wife_ , if you'll let me."

It's obvious his words have an effect on her and that tiny voice in his head is making it hard to think clearly.  

"I don't think I can handle that right now." 

Rikki's never been that reckless.

"Say yes anyway."

He's always burned bright and hot.  Always felt like the world was moving too slow and people lived second guessing their every decision.  Tony's always believed he was speeding along leaving every else in the dust.  Everyone except Rikki who always seemed to be one step ahead of him, genius be damned, with a grin and a sway to her hips.

"Yes."  _Finally!_

She burns just as hot and now he knows what it feels like to have someone burn _with_ him.  Kissing her is like tasting liquid fire.  It's hotter than any whiskey and more addictive than any drug he's ever had.  That tiny voice roars in triumph and he's pouring everything into this kiss. 

Its a very good thing her bedroom is only a few steps from the pool.

* * *

Tony wakes up warm and relaxed.  The most relaxed he's felt in ages.

He didn't realize how wound up and tense he was until just now.  There is a weight on his side and seeing Rikki practically plastered to his side with his promise [ring ](https://www.etsy.com/listing/265513781/natural-ruby-leaf-engagement-ring-14k?ref=related-8)on her finger fills him with a large amount of visceral and possessive glee.  _~~Mine! **Mine**!Mine! **Mine**!~~_

Last night they burned together.  

That is only way he can describe it.  It was the hottest and most rapturous sex he's ever had. 

Rikki has officially ruined him for other women.  That is fact now.

He doesn't know if she used any kind of magic like she did when she dried them as Tony lifted them out of the water.  But if she did he's not going to complain.  Nope.  Not one unhappy word.  On the other hand, he knows he should feel concerned over that little voice preening like a fat and satisfied wild cat.  But its him, Tony knows, its all him.  Some part of him is incredibly happy to have made his claim.

Tony should feel worried over that but he's always been selfish.  There are so few things he can claim as truly being _his_ versus open for public scrutiny. 

And like a damn hoarder, he squirrels away what's precious to him. Jarvis, his bots, and now Rikki.

There have been so few things that have made Tony happy.  He's had so little of it ever since his parents died that every little bit he gets he holds and guards furiously.  His Rhodey is his own person of course but it still irks the genius that he has to share his best friend with the military.  If Rhodey had chosen any other profession there is a large possibility that Tony would have pulled out of the weapon's race years ago.

Pepper and Happy are also his but, again, he has to share them with the company.  Pepper, he's been grooming since he made that fake accounting mistake years ago, and who he's started to see more as a pseudo little sister.  He may have accidently gotten her together with Happy during a function he left early from with Rikki and made him stay with her as per company policy. 

Tony regrets nothing since both are happy together and because they are _his_ , seeing them happy makes him content.  

Now he has Rikki.

Of course, there are many questions he has.  He wants to asks her how her molecules changed without heat and how did all of her matter rearrange itself without breaking the integrity of her musculature.  What the hell happened to her organs?  Wait, what if she hurt her tail would that translate to her legs?  Oh good god, what about if she needed to go to the hospital? No, no, that's fine he has his own doctor, he'll just have more NDAs drawn up to cover Rikki.

Already his mind is whirling with plans and contingencies to cover his bases.  Being with him would put her at risk but its not as big a leap of risk as if she had come out of nowhere.  Rikki already has a reputation among the elite as both a social but distant woman and as a professional entrepreneur.  She's endured her own amount of scrutiny with grace and fearless sarcasm.  Its a common sight to see reporters and journalist, especially the really arrogant ones, flinch away from her.

They knew by now if you wanted the truth the firey blonde is the one to go to but you had better stow the arrogance or learn to bite your tongue if you didn't want a verbal lashing bad enough to send you crying.  She did that once, too, and its something no one will _ever_ forget.

He wonders what else she has to tell him but he doesn't mind waiting.  That's how relationships work isn't it?  A sort of give and take that benefits both parties.  The sort of relationship that he expected from Sunset and Tiberius but realized too late he didn't have.  Tony's so curious but he also has a weapon's demonstration a few days later so he'll have to make the best of their time together until he can get back. 

Wonder if she's up for morning sex? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sneak Peek:
> 
> Rikki is a happy mermaid. A happy mermaid is a...somewhat forgetful mermaid. But that's okay. That doesn't mean she's going to allow the rest of the world to forget Tony Stark.
> 
> The World freaks the fuck out.
> 
> Jarvis heavily approves.


	4. The Storm of the Century.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rikki remembers how Iron Man is forged when the ASIO, the Australian equivalent of the FBI come knocking at her door.
> 
> She doesn't remember all the details since it was so long ago but she knows enough to point them in the right direction but when the search starts to wind down, Rikki gives them reason to keep going.

**_"Beware the fury of a patient man."_** -John Dryden

 ** _"The finest fury is the most controlled."_** -Christopher Hitchens, Love, Poverty, and War: Journey and Essays

* * *

They spend the last few days in bliss and when Tony leaves, Rikki thinks nothing of it.  When he misses their appointed phone call, she thinks he got caught up in his work.  Something she can understand, especially when she's swimming in open water, so she doesn't make a big deal of it.  She just leaves a message on his phone and goes to make herself lunch.

Everything is fine until she answers her door to the ASIO standing on her doorstep.

"Miss Chadwick, may we enter?"  

Its three men and each one doesn't hesitate to show her their badges and introduce themselves.  One dirty blonde with brown eyes and two brunettes.  One with dark brown eyes and one with blue eyes.  The first one is named Luke Cass, followed by Marcus Douglas, and Riley Wardlaw. They approach her like they're about to deliver a death sentence.

"Tony Stark is missing." 

"What?"

She hadn't been watching the news or anything.  Preferring to stick to Netflix or disc movies.  She turns away from them and hurries back inside to turn on the television.  The news blares out at her.  It wails across the screen in bold letters and fake sympathy.

Her grip on the remote tightens, making the plastic creak. 

Rikki forgot.  

She _forgot_.

"Miss Chadwick."

The three agents follow her and Cass speaks gently.  Which is good and bad because Rikki isn't some weak wall flower but her temper is and has always been violent.  Right now its smothered by horror and guilt but it will only take one wrong word to get spark her anger.  

"They have him."

"'They' who?" Douglas asks, careful not to raise his voice.

"I don't know.  Just...just _they_."

What can she say to them?  What can she tell them without making it seem like she's an accomplice? Its not like she can come right out and say she's from another world where Tony Stark is a fictional character or that she was able to cross over because she's a mermaid.  Sweet Mako, she doesn't even remember all of the details! Just bits and pieces that stuck with her because she was never a big fan of comics.  

And she forgot!

Rikki sinks into her couch and tries to hold back a sob.  Its hard.  Rikki was never the one that panicked.  She didn't think about the worse case scenario or the terrible things that could happen to her.  Rikki is _Rage_.  Rikki **_Burned_**. 

There is a reason her first power was heat, fire, and lightening.  Mermaids are closely tied to their first powers and liquid water or ice can be molded and controlled.  But not fire, not Rikki.  Everyone was careful of fire.  People could use it.  People have learned to create and depend on it but they are always careful.  It is so easy for fire to wreak havoc and no matter the containment, fire always wins because that fear and discomfort will always beat out complacency.

Rikki feels that urge now.  To lash out and destroy.  But the fire doesn't come to her because she isn't boxed in or threatened.  There's no one trying to command her.  There is no threat.

The threat is aimed at Tony.

"-we don't negotiate with terrorists."

"What?"

She hadn't realized they were talking.  Rikki doesn't even realize which one of them is talking and even if she did, Rikki knows they won't negotiate with them.  She knows there is no money in all the world that will make them give Tony Stark over.

"There is some speculation about the ones responsible." Cass takes over again. "If it is _not_ terrorists than there may be something we can do.  Is there anyone, anyone at all, that seems like the type to attack Mr. Stark and his military escort?"

Stane.  Obadiah Stane.  Rikki might not be able to tell them his name or why or how.  But she can point them in the right direction.       

"Why don't you check his company?"

Cass focus on her intensifies, gone is the careful agent but his voice is still soft.  Rikki can almost feel the difference in the agents as they shift mindsets.

"Are you implying that someone inside Mr. Stark's company is responsible for his kidnapping?"

Rikki keeps her expression blank.  It takes everything she has not to scream at them.  

"I don't know.  What I am saying is that unless you want to accuss the US military of leaking information on purpose than his company is the first place you should be looking."

They must have seen something.  Rikki isn't the best at poker but she can keep her composure when she has to.  

"Of course."

* * *

When they push his head beneath the water his first reaction is to panic.

They hold his head down longer and longer the more he refuses them.  His world blurs at the edges and he isn't in Afghanistan anymore.

_Rikki is as beautiful in the ocean as she is on land.  They're in the open sea a little farther out from her home and Tony will admit that the scenary makes her breathtaking to look at.  He can see why sailors would happily follow a mermaid to their deaths._

_Tony isn't so big on nature but he can see why it would appeal to her.  With his rebreather, a mask that he planned to give to Rikki for her dives that she_ doesn't _really need, Tony gets to see her in all her mythical glory._

_She turns to him, smiles, and holds his hand._

_Something moves above him and he turns quickly.  They're not alone.  Sharks, he thinking, but no._

_The ocean comes[alive ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBBZy1Lls6k)around them with a school of dolphins.  The comes close and dance around them.  Rikki, the sly minx, takes his hand and puts on a fin of a dolphin right next to him.  With a jerk, Tony finds himself gliding through the water.  He turns back to see Rikki right on his tail (_ ha! tail!) _and he holds on.  The water all around them is alive with dolphin giggles._

 _They're playing and he can_ somehow _feel the giddy joy bubbling all around him._

He refuses.

_The dolphins don't stay.  Which is fine with Tony because they remind him of his bots at home and he really does need to spend more time with them.  He's been so busy lately that he hasn't even threatened to send DUM-E to a shelter or something._

_Rikki swims to his side, a picture of red and gold in a world of blue, with a lazy grin on her face and takes his hand again.  He lets her led, unsure how far out they are and not really caring.  Tony thinks he should be but he's so relaxed. ~~When was the last time he felt his okay?~~ But this strange world is alive and he can see it.  Squids that look like glowing rocks and fish of every color and size.  There's a hammerhead shark that glides underneath him and off into the blue.  The rest he doesn't know.  He doesn't know anything about these things except they're alive._

_A shadow lazily swims over head and Tony looks up._

_Above him glides a pair of giant manta rays.  For a moment, just one, he forgets to breath and exhales roughly.  For whatever reason it comes down right over his shoulder and he meets its gaze.  A shiver rolls down his spine at how deep that gaze feels but...but not judging.  It doesn't feel like someone is weighting his soul.  No.  Its just...looking at him.  Seeing him.  It brushes its pectoral fin along his back, just a graze, gentle and...and soothing._

_It makes Tony feel incredibly small. ~~His vision is blurring. He's not crying. He's not.~~  _

_Small and peaceful.  Safe._

Tony coughs and turns his head, water spewing from his mouth.  He blinks in a daze.  Yinsen is there in a surprising twist.  Something must have happened.  The terrorists are yelling at each other and spewing a bunch of things he doesn't understand.  He is dragged back to his prison with Yinsen, pale and tired.  But that feeling...

...it stays with him.

It stays. 

* * *

She was furious and afraid.

The search has started to die down.  Already the media is asking who will inherit the company and what about this stock or that problem.  Rikki hates it.  The callous disregard.  Tony stark is alive and they were treating his kidnapping like some twist in a reality TV show.  

She spent all this time in Australia under ASIO watch.  She doesn't mind much since she knew Stane was responsible for her boyfriend being kidnapped and pointing the finger at him and the rest of the company board would have put a target on her back.  Rikki still makes it a point to call Tony's friend Rhodey to ask him about the search and Pepper to make sure she isn't alone.

Rikki doesn't know if the other two like her or not but they're important to Tony.  So, she tries to protect them the best she can from the other side of the world. The second month is harder but she holds out. She is still under watch so she stays out of the water.

She still calls Tony's cell.  Every day he's out there, she calls him and leaves a message.  If only to here his stupid voicemail and to remind herself that he isn't dead.  He's missing and he's coming back.  He's coming back alive.

Even if she has to make them _keep_ searching for him. 

"Jarvis." Rikki calls to the AI from her laptop. "Can you help me?"

 "If it is within my capabilities, Miss Chadwick."

"Good. Can you make sure Stane doesn't hear anything about me?"

"You suspect Mr. Stane of foul play, Miss?"

"He's always given me the creeps.  There's also a bunch of other reason but I'll let that for when Tony gets back."

"Of course, Miss.  If your efforts will also aid Sir, than I will act in whatever way possible to assist you."

"Perfect." 

She goes around her bedroom and makes sure her bedroom is blocked out, curtains and all. The less people see of her, especially the agents "protecting" her, the better.  She pulls up a world map and looks it over with a calculating gaze.

"Jarvis." Rikki narrows her eyes, "Show me where Tony was taken."

She's barely finished speaking when the map changes and is manipulated without her input.  Anticipating what she wants, Jarvis zooms into the area Tony disappeared and highlights the area around it by twenty miles.

"Zoom out.  Show me the distance from here and the nearest military base."

Jarvis zooms out and highlights a radius of about forty miles.  He also marks areas of unrest, conflict and territories under command of the military.

Rikki takes it all in with a deep breath.  This is not something she's ever done before but she knew she could.  She had to.  The map gives her a point of reference.  After all, its not the highlighted area that she's aiming for.

She closes her eyes and _pulls_.

* * *

No one knows where it started.  Only that it did.

Slowly, carefully did it all change.  Dark storm clouds form on multiple horizons.  From a distance the storm clouds, flash lightening and booming thunder.

No one really pays it any mind. Not at first.  Its just another surprise storm.  Mother Nature can still surprise people after all.  Except it continues to grow and grow.  It stretches out over the wide oceans and climb high to block out the sun.  The air becomes charged and thick with the smell of ozone.  Cold wind hurls against walls and glass, becoming dangerously harsh and biting.  

It comes from no where.

The massive storm clouds creep upon the landmasses of the world.  No one can tell where it started, which is fortunate for Rikki, but it sends meteorologist reeling and panicking.  Rikki cannot make this storm from nothing.  That would take too much power and energy.  It would take too long for her put it together.  But this isn't her making a storm so much as _enhancing_ a storm already forming.  The world was made from a storm, from violence and unprecedented power.  Rikki could do the same.

She doesn't though.  

People wouldn't survive that sort of event but with this, they have a warning.  She pushes the world's natural progress and gives it power but no direction.  Rikki isn't looking to control it.  She wants it to run wild, to cause chaos and fear.  Everywhere except here, in this place where Tony is missing, where Iron Man is born.

Rikki intends to make sure the world never forgets this, forgets Tony Stark did the impossible.

It takes hours for the clouds to blanket the sky but when they finally do, the world is dark.  The clouds break and a torrent of rain pours from the sky.  Winds unfurl and swell, rising gusts causing any remaining wildlife to scatter and head for cover as wind speeds rises.  Volcanoes cracks and spew fatal methane, lava pouring from crevices in the earth.  

It rains and rains.  North to south.  West to east.  All around the world, it rains and the ground trembles wind wipes through skyscrapers and high rises.  Trees falls and branches break.  Streets and subways start to flood.  The power fails and people are left in the dark. 

People become scared.  For days it goes on and everyone wonders.  Is this it?  Is this the end?  A terror grips the people of the world and it _keeps_ raining.  There are mudslides in California, the Philippines, and parts of Russia.  In Kenya, Mexico, Italy, and Ethiopia, the land is bathed in volcanic fire and ash.  It hits the people of the world than that they are in danger.  This is real.  Their planet spits lightening and fire at them. 

It slowly but surely, threatens to _drown_ them all.

All but one portion in the middle east.  A small segment in the afghan desert where a billionaire went missing.


	5. Stane's Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony sees the effort put in to find him.
> 
> JARVIS shows what's been done since his disappearance.

 

When Tony is found, the change is immediate.  Although, the engineer is clearly delirious as he collapses into Rhodey's side.  The distant storm clouds that the soldiers have seen with the naked eye start to disipate. 

The harsh winds stop so suddenly that the stillness unnerves them.  When they touch down on base, everyone watches in disbelief as the sky clears for the first time.  When Tony Stark is carried out, the air clears and its like a weight has been lifted from their shoulders.  At the same time that the base commander reports the status of Tony Stark, the massive world wide catastrophe start to subside.  

For the first time in _weeks_ , the weather clears.  

And people notice.

* * *

Tony is relieved to be back in the states.  Proof of how harsh the weather had been still exist, branches on the side of the runway, and a number of caved in plane hangers.  Still, he sees Pepper and Happy on the tarmac.  But no Rikki.  

He doesn't want to believe in the worse.  He doesn't want to believe this is her way of saying she didn't want to be part of his life.  He thinks of anything else that might keep her away.  Her going to ground because of the rain or hiding from so many prying eyes. 

"She wanted to be here." Rhodey tells him. "ASIO have had her under guard for her protection.  She's been talking to the rest of us and JARVIS ever since you were taken, though."

"The what?"

"Aussie FBI." His best friend grimaces. "They've had her under lockdown in case of a ranson or another kidnapping attempt.  Not that it was possible with the biblical weather we've had."

Well, that explains a lot.  She'd definitely keep her head down with so many shadows looking over her shoulder.

"They've probably heard I'm back by now."

"Yeah. Except they've been corroborating with the FBI to investigate Stark Industries. They're not letting anyone except family near her until this whole thing clears up."

Tony raises both eyebrows.  Its a huge surprise.  In a number of ways, really but...

"Shit."

"Yeah. But she's been pretty adament that you'd come back. Gotta say Tones. Its helped keep me going. If she's legit I'm happy for you."

"Yeah. Yeah so am I."

Rhodey carefully shakes his arm and grins.

"Pep can tell you the rest with SI but you got this.  If you need anything, and I mean anything, call me."

"Always honey bunny."

It says something that his best friend just looks fondly exasperated instead of annoyed.

* * *

"Stunning performance, Sir." JARVIS calls out in greeting as the billionaire enters his lab for the first time in three months. "However, I would strongly recommend against going out of range."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind, buddy." Tony grins and takes a deep breath. "Alright, JARVIS call up Rikki." 

"Of course, Sir."

On his hologram, an image of Rikki pops up, in bed, sleeping.  Its not nearly as erotic as it sounds in his head.  Tony notices how pale she is and the dark circles under her eyes. There looks like a harsh redness along her cheeks and neck. 

"J, what is..? Is she sick?"

"Yes, Sir." There is something in his AI's tone that has him stand up straighter. "She's spent considerable effort in your return."

"She did?"

"If I may." the AI opens a series of screens. 

The first one starts where Rikki tells JARVIS of her own means of encouraging the search for Tony.  The windows next to her show the corresponding action and reactions.  The first day where the weather swells but doesn't break, like a looming shadow seconds away from engulfing the world.  There are the usual weather warnings.  Newscasters droning on about taking precautions but only its only on the second day that anyone takes those warnings seriously.  

On the second day, the weather breaks.

No. Its more like it forced complete and total submission. 

Tony takes it all in and after a moment, JARVIS rewinds everything to the beginning.  The news and reports that spurred her on.  The speculation that lit a near inhuman fury within her on his behalf.  Rikki actions and again, the _results_...

"JARVIS..." Tony stares, tense, because _fuck_. "how many...?"

"Miss Chadwick made great pains to prepare the people for the harsh conditions, however, current estimates of worldwide casultites is approximately 30,000."

"Shit." 

The disaster screen enlarges.  Mudslides, floods, harsh winds, and now, intense heat waves.  Ever since his return its been nothing but uncomfortably hot.  But he though that was all in his head.  Its not.  the proof is staring at him in the face. 

The death toll, Tony can see is more or less due to shortages and poor construction.  The disasters themselves didn't cause any deaths.  But that doesn't mean they didn't lead to them.  Lack of food and clean water, warm clothes and basic medical aid are large factors in preventing casualties during natural disasters.  Something that many took for granted, assuming the weather wouldn't hold for more than a day.

A day is very different to nearly three weeks.

"Alright, alright." he runs a hand through his hair. "Send whatever relief we can offer.  Supplies, first aid, kids gloves off, J."

"Contingencies were made during the first week and are waiting for you approval."

"Good. Get PR on this.  Spin this to our advantage.  Stark Industries leaves weapons for humanitarian aid.  Tony Stark returns to help with natural disasters.  It will probably make me look like a profiteering asshole but what else is new.  Did she hold this straight through?"

"As best she was able. There were moments when the calamities lessened but did not stop."  Several other video screens open.  "More due to Miss Chadwick's need to continue basic self care which required considerable concentration with the agents surveillance."

"Doesn't sound too bad."

"Indeed Sir. Such moments allowed first responders time to collect themselves and assist others.  The reprieves were greatly appreciated."

"Keep an eye on the relief effort. What's the status of the investigation into SI?  Why did that happen?  Pepper told me they got a credible tip but that they couldn't release information about the investigation."

"The source is in fact, Miss Chadwick.  She pointed authorities to the companies direction.  She confided into me why."

JARVIS plays video of Rikki telling the AI to avoid Stane and Tony can't help but flinch.  

"I think..." Tony's gaze falls on her sleeping face, sweaty and exhausted. "I think we've got a lot of work to do JARVIS.  But first, record..."

"Recording..."

"Rikki, my gorgeous sea goddess." He grins at the screen. "My avenging goddess. Its good to be back and watching you sleep is not as sexy when you're sick and sleeping.  Edward Cullen I am not."

The grin on his lips falls from his face and he sighs.

"I was really looking forward to seeing you but it can wait a little bit." Tony stares at her face, soaking in every curve and curl.  "I imagine we've got a lot to talk about but until then I've got a rat to find.  Sleep tight gorgeous. I'll see you soon."

With a flick of his fingers the recording ends and is sent to her desktop, waiting for her to get back on her feet to watch.  Several other hand motions has him destroying all other weapon plans and opening a new screen to look over the plans JARVIS made while he was gone.

"JARVIS, show me what you've dug up on Ob- _Stane_." 

It is almost physically painful for Tony to say those words.  But, his girlfriend is a mermaid with her own money who could care less about who owns Stark Industries so long as they aren't a threat to her.  Tony _knows_ this. 

"I seriously doubt my girlfriend would just randomly mention him unless it was for a good reason and I want to know why."

"Of course, Sir."

Tony steels his heart.

"And get me in contact with whoever in the FBI is in charge of the investigation, along with whoever is in charge of Rikki's security detail and coffee.  We're going to be busy."

With one more smooth motion of his hand, a new blueprint opens on the holo table, one that looks suspiciously like a suit of armor.


	6. The MCU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rikki is many things. A Liar isn't one of them.
> 
> Unless its about her tail. Or her magic. Ya' know. Those things. Everything else is fair game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait guys! RL has been a bitch. And a financial nightmare. (Between my car and my laptop both that needed to be replaced, its a miracle I'm not in the red.). I need to get rich, win the lottery, find me a sugar daddy, something! UGH!!!
> 
> But fanfic hasn't let me down. There's that.
> 
> Also, I've been playing Kingdom Hearts for the P4, the Remix...ya' know with all the games on two discs...and I am hooked. NO SPOILERS!!! I HAVEN'T FINISHED YET!!!!
> 
> But, but, like!!! How has no one done a fic with Tony getting his own Keyblade?!!?!?! How has this not happened yet?! What the f-!!!!!  
> *Screaming into pillow*
> 
> I need fan art of this madness that my muse has shot me with

She's dreaming. 

Rikki knows she's dreaming.  Of galaxies, of stars and currents tearing each other a part, suns imploding and black holes creeping along the edges of solar systems.  It reaches out to her. Embracing her.  Warm and cold. Strong and vast, beyond her comprehension.  Vulnerable and fragile, soft beneath her touch.  

It breathes life and death.  Equally.

Space.

Engulfs her heart.

Rikki jolts awake. She at home but her pillow is moving, breathing. Alive. An illuminating light sparkles softly in the dark. Is it late or really early?  She doesn't know. She doesn't care. Tony is alive.  They found him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."  He's _here_.

"It's fine." She reaches for him, leans into his hold on her. She breathes in stardust and cold fire.  "We need to talk anyway."

"That...that is not what I was hoping to hear."

"Are you okay?"

He exhales, a deep bone tired sigh. 

"I am now." He runs his hand up and down her arm. "I mean if you don't mind me being here."

"You know I don't."

"That's good. I mean, I'm glad."

"Tony. I..." How can she explain this? How to start?

"JARVIS showed me. You don't have to tell me how you knew. Not right now. I mean I would like to know, you know. But I just want to be here, with you. It's not everyday my mermaid girlfriend brings up a world wide storm and a bunch of natural disasters just show how pissed she is at the rest of the world for forgetting about me."

"They shouldn't have written you off."

"Yeah, I get that. I'm just saying, it's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"Terrifying humanity so they'd work harder to find you, is the nicest thing ever?"

Rikki looks him in the eye in disbelief. Because he cannot be serious.

"I've gotten plenty of weird gifts and the usual proclamation of love but..." The billionaire hero looks off, tired. "Not one of my partners has ever gone out of their way to try to protect me. Not once did they ever come to my defense."

He turns his gaze back to her, expression softer than she's ever seen. And than he smiles. Not his paparazzi ready smile or his business Playboy smile either.  It makes her breathe hitch a little and her toes curl. 

"Then comes along this spitfire of a woman, a self made diver with a take no shit attitude who tells the world to 'go fuck itself, this billionaire is worth something and you can't have him'.  That means a lot to me.  It helps that you waited a bit, gave everyone a very clear warning that it was going to get really bad before going all Enraged Mother Nature."

"I am pretty badass." She grins but that grin quickly falls, "Not sure your pirate spy friend would agree though."

Tony blinks at her, completely taken back. He sits up and props himself up on her pillows. She follows slowly and a little sluggish. But Tony doesn't wait for her or let her sit up on her own.  He wraps her in his arms before she even sits up and drags her back into his side. She huffs at his little show, having been curled into his side, arms around her with her legs and feet thrown over his lap.

Not subtle. At all. 

But that's for another time. _If_ there's another time.  She frowns at her boyfriend and just starts with a sort of apology.

"There's a lot I haven't said.  A lot of things I forgot to mention.  Things I just _forgot_ and that, that's not fair to you.  I don't want that- _this_ to start with a big gaping hole between us.  If you still want it, I mean."

Rikki isn't shy or insecure.  It's not in her nature to be.  She's rough and upfront.  Why waste time and energy trying to hold onto a lie?  She likes Tony Stark.  This Tony Stark that the movies don't really touch on even though they try and so far they've gotten it really close.  Or as close as her memories tell her.  Rikki doesn't want to be alone but since Zane, Tony is the only person she's felt the need to be near.

And it's without sacrifice.  

Rikki loved being a mermaid and being able to walk on land.  A foot in both worlds without feeling the need to give something up for one or the other.  With the other girls, they were pulled more and more to their ties on land.  With the other mermaids, the land was a strange place that was barbaric or cruel or disgusting. They acted more like arrogant nobles visiting a third world, looking down on everything and everyone.  

But she saw beautiful things about both of them and she called both worlds home.  Tony, in the short time that he's known, has not once asked her to part with one or the other even _before_ he knew she was a mermaid.  Solo diving has its own inherent dangers and he knew them all.  He never tried to talk her out of it or make her work seem inferior.  Not once.

That's the reason she wants to give them a chance.  

"I do." He says. "I really do.  If it's about you being a mermaid, then I'm all ears.  You know that, even before I asked you to be mine, I was willing to hear you out."

"I know." Rikki runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "Its part of that.  As a mermaid I have certain...perks.  I can go to places and see things that normal people will never know.  But after a while there is nowhere else to go.  No new places to discover.  So...I opened a doorway."

She takes a deep breath.

"A doorway to another world.   _This_ world."

For a moment, he says nothing.  But his confusion is easy to see.  "I...but...but your records.  The pictures and...and everything!"

"They're all her.  The other Rikki, the one born in this world.  When I came, she had died, complications from after surgery, a car accident or something."

Tony frowns. "Yeah, some drunk driver, a hit and run.  She went home after a few weeks.  How does this fit in?"

"When she died, she just disappeared.  Her body didn't just drop to the floor.  But everything that made her who she was became a part of me.  I took over when her life ended but we aren't that different.  The only difference that really matters is that _I'm_ a mermaid.'

"And she wasn't."

"Right."

"So not only are you a mermaid.  You're a mermaid from another world...dimension...universe."

"Yup. That's right."

Tony stares at her.  Rikki stares right back because that is that easy part.  If he can get over this than she can ease her way into everything else.  Normally, she'd just blurt everything out but she has learned this thing called tact.  

Tony isn't helping though.  

"Say something."

"Something." Cheeky son of a-! "So, you've sort of been...reincarnated?"

Rikki blinks for a few seconds and nods.

"I never thought of it that way but yeah.  That sounds right."

"But that's not what you really want to tell me."

"No. _That's_ the easy part.  We can talk about the hard part after you've wrapped your head around this and I'm caught up on what happened while I was out." 

"Oh, I can fill you in."

"And you can call you're friend Rhodey over."

"You want him to know about this?  About us?"

"I don't mind.  I know you trust him and he's stuck with you for years now."  Rikki knows he won't turn on Tony.  She knows he's one of the very few who doesn't try to break him, to kill him or smother him.  "He's someone I know won't hurt me."

"You 'know'?"

"Hard part, remember?"

"Right, right." He pulls his phone from the side table and opens it so she can see what he sees.  "In that case, here's what happened..."

* * *

Well, that wasn't too different from what she's remembers.

There are differences though. Glaring differences and she isn't sure what they mean or how this would effect anything else.  Rikki isn't a genius but she's seen enough movies and tv shows to know that the whole 'Butterfly Effect' is no bullshit joking matter.  Still, she's no genius and she can't see the future.  The best she can do is live her life the best she can and give Tony all the tools he can to prepare for the future.  

She is looking forward to meeting Peter, though. He was always one of her favorites and seeing the whole father-son thing on screen was amazing and just plan adorable.  Rikki can't wait to see the look on Tony's face when he realizes he practically adopted his own spider son but that's for later.

"Right." Rikki sighs from her spot on the couch, her muscles ache and her throat is sore.  She's taken a bath and Tony made her favorite tea. "You sure you don't want to wait for him?"

"I'd rather just get it over and done." Tony frowns but lets her cuddle into his side.  

Rhodey couldn't come right away, still working to sooth ruffled feathers back in the states and Pepper is keeping the entire company together through sheer will power.  Rikki's impressed and has no doubt her skills are the reason Tony made her CEO.  She wishes someone was here for him because she fully intends to tell him everything she knows and it is hard.  She just knows it will be but it would be worse if she hid it from him.

"It will be hard to hear." She warns him because as harsh as Rikki can be, she's never been cruel to someone on purpose.  "Some of it will...well..."

"It about me."

"Yeah."

"I've got you."

The mermaid blinks.  She hadn't thought of that.  That he would trust her and find comfort in her.  It makes her chest swell with warmth and she smiles a little.  Just a little.  She needs to get this done.

"So, in my original world there are movies about you."

"Movies?" His expression goes blank, too many emotions for him to really express. "Like documentaries?"

"No. Films, Tony, fantasy like comics and things." Rikki barrels on before he can asks anything.  Better to rip the bandaid right off, yeah? "Its about a billionaire who becomes a hero. Iron Man.  There's an entire film industry around you and other heroes.  There's you and the other Avengers, the Defenders, and umm...some agents who become heroes or close enough.  There's aliens and gods and things."

"What?" She doesn't look at his face as she takes a sip of her tea.

"Yup. There's an entire story lined up and everything.  You becoming Iron Man is the first and its the reason I know a lot of what happens after."

"You know what happens next?" He gently takes her chin in his hand and turn her to look at him. Rikki can't really describe his expression.  Disbelief? Hope? Confusion? 

"Its been awhile since I've seen the older movies but I remember enough.  The important bits, I guess."

"Important enough you feel the need to share."

"Yes."

"Important to _me_?" His is still holding her and she can feel him tremble, just a bit.

"Yes." Tony swallows and lets go of her chin to be able to wrap both arms around her.  He pulls her closer.

"Tell me."

Rikki exhales but resolutely doesn't look away.

"The pirate already paid you a visit, right?"

"Fury wanted me to join his secret boy band." Tony starts. "The Avengers, you wouldn't happen to know who else he wanted on the team would you?"

"Dr. Banner, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thor and Captain America are all of the original team."

"Wait," He actually raises his hand to stop her. "wait, wait, wait, what? Who?"

"Banner is-"

"Yeah, I know about him, he's a brilliant scientist-"

"Who can also turn into a green rage monster. You can look him up later." Rikki cuts in. "Hawkeye is a sniper with a bow, the Widow is an assassin, you'll meet her when she infiltrates your company and tries to seduce you, and Thor is an alien.  Or a god.  Alien god.  An alien that people worshiped as a god.  I'm not to clear on that but you get the idea."

"Does he have a hammer?" Tony asks with a smirk.

"Yes." 

Whatever joke he planned to dies swiftly and the smirk disappears.  She can tell he's struggling so she keeps going.

"The last guy is Steve Rogers, he'll be found in the ice and defrosted. He's an ass."

"Is he really?" Tony raises both eyebrows. "Or are you saying that because you don't like him?"

"Both."

"Uhuh."

The billionaire doesn't say anything else about that.  Good.  Rikki isn't in the mood to justify herself.  She is well within her right to dislike someone.  He'll understand when she's done anyway.  But this is taking too long.  She goes for the first strike.

"Before you meet them, you have to fix your reactor." She watches as Tony's entire being shut down. "The core is poisoning you and you need to change the element or you'll die."

They are silent for a long time.  He doesn't push her away though.  He doesn't yell or curse at her.  In fact, he's so still Rikki isn't sure if he's present anymore.  So she takes his hand in hers and interlocks their fingers.  She gently squeezes them and runs her thumb over his knuckles.  When he returns the squeeze and sighs, she relaxes a little more in his hold.

"Palladium poisoning." 

"Yeah."

"I figure it out?"

"Well, not at first.  You go through all the known elements and go on this spiraling sort of depression when it looks like nothing will work." She keeps eye contact. "You make Pepper CEO, piss off your best friend, and make him take one of the spare armors.  There's also a crazy Russian out to kill you for something you father did to his father.  I can't remember his name.  Something with an 'I'."

She bites her lip lightly.  What was his name?

"Ivan something."

"I can find that out but I found a cure?" He asks a little more urgently and Rikki smiles because this she does remember. How could she not?

"Oh, yeah. Its in this model your dad built.  In the film its in an office with Pepper but I'm sure you can find it before than unless Fury has it hidden away with everything else."

"What? Wh-" 

Tony abruptly cuts himself off and his expression goes dark.  There's an understanding there that Rikki isn't getting.  The expo model wasn't delivered to his house so they probably didn't have it but was it there before Tony decided to start the Expo again?  This time Rikki frowns because she doesn't know. Tony pulls out his phone and puts it on the coffee table. 

"JARVIS do some digging.  Everything my father ever made or ever had a hand in, trace it."

"Of course, Sir."

"Rikki," His gaze is intense. "I need you to tell me everything you know."

"I, yeah," She frowns and gets the impression she's missing something.  She's not surprised but she'll get it once she's done. "You meet the Widow, red head named Natasha or something like that.  Her last name is Rushman and she evaluates you or some bullshit.  But the cure is in the model, its a new element..."

She goes on about Hammer getting its hands on Rhodey's armor, on the Russian taking over when Justin gets him out of prison and the attack on the Expo.  She regrets that she doesn't remember a lot of other details but Tony just urges her on.  She mentions Thor in New Mexico and something about being worthy of his hammer again.  There's also something about a war with Frost Giants and Loki finding out he's adopted.  She tells him the Trickster doesn't take it well.

"He breaks the Bridge to get here to save the Frost Giants but it means he can't come back to Jane."

"I think I know a Jane something about space."

"Jane Foster, Sir. I'm compiling a list now."

"Good, I'll look at it later."

"So, Loki lets go and falls into the void..."  She tells him how the god becomes a puppet in the alien invasion that hits New York, how Loki uses his tower to bring over an alien army, and how the Scepter holds something called an infinity stone, the Mind stone.  It fails to affect him because his reactor protects him.

"That's...something." Tony's eyes flicker back and forth.  Its a sign she's familiar with, his mind is whirling and jumping to new ideas and theories.  She simply reaches over, picks up the tablet she's left there, its a clunky thing but she knows Tony will make do before he build a better one, and gives it to him.  She's right by the disgust that flashes across his face for a second.

"Make your notes while I get more tea." She gets up and misses the fond look he sends her.

* * *

 

"Right, where were we?" Rikki settles back into Tony's side.  There are snacks on the table because she can tell they're going to be a while longer going through everything.

"Alien invasion, Loki, and a mind stone."

"The Mind Stone."

"Okay." Tony raises an eyebrow. "Distinct, huh?"

"Yeah, its really important.  I remember looking them up just so I could understand why it was so important.  Apparently, they're universe shattering, like they can change the universe.  There's six.  Mind, Reality, Space, umm...Soul, Time...and one more, one more...Power!  If you have all six, you can pretty much control the entire universe."

"And, some big bad alien is trying to collect them?"

"Yeah, I forgot his name. It was mentioned in the Guardians film but I only saw part of that.  I think the power stone is one that planet though? I'm not sure which one but one is on the planet controlled by the Nova Corps and one is held by another alien named the Collector."

"The mind is in the scepter and the Tesseract is the space stone. Where are the other two?"

"The time stone is protected by a bunch of mages or wizards and I don't know about the last one."

"Wait." Tony blinks once in disbelief, "There are wizards, here? On earth?"

"You're okay with me being a mermaid with magic but regular wizards trip you up?" The look she gives him says just how unimpressed she is with his reaction.

"Right." He coughs, "Go on."

"I don't know much about the wizards, I only saw part of that movie, too. I stumbled on them while I was just flicking through the channels.  Umm, I did see Ant Man and a bit of the Inhumans on Netflix, somethings with the X men, and Deadpool.  I've rewatched that because it is just that good but I'm not sure if any of that is relevant here since they were kept separate."

"Tell me anyway."

She tells him everything about these other heroes and mutants.  The horror and torture.  The fear and the drama, like someone recounting a favorite or interested tv show to someone else. But Tony makes sure JARVIS records and makes a note of everything.  The model is locked on, a quick find back in the mansion he grew up in.  He doesn't make a move to have it brought to him, not yet.  Because there is a lot that Rikki is telling him and he knows she doesn't realize just what she's saying.  

An assassin infiltrates his company to get close to him, a honeypot at that.  SHIELD becomes aware that he is dying but don't offer aide until he is literally at the end of his rope.  Just that bit puts a bitter taste in his mouth because the picture it paints isn't a pretty one.  No, its down right insidious.  So, he makes sure to listen to everything she has to say even if she doesn't know everything.  She knows enough.  She knows more than everyone else in the world and that makes her a threat to those in power.

And Tony knows what happens to people who appear to be a threat.  He wasn’t going to let his girlfriend be one of them especially when she mentions they put Loki in a cage meant for the Hulk. A fucking cage. He just knew for someone like Rikki? There would be no cage.

"There was a third Iron Man movie, too." She takes a sip and reaches over for a snack. "I don't remember a lot of the details but it involves the president being kidnapped and a bunch of people blowing themselves up."

"Terrorists?"

"No, umm, a twisted form of the serum?" Rikki frowns, its not the first time when she has a hard time explaining herself. "It had something to do with some serum from a woman you slept with at a party, she was a scientist, and you made some progress on her work.  The guy, the villain, he uses it on himself and he turns into this fiery version of the super soldier.  Its a revenge plot and you have a hard time against him because of the PTSD and anxiety attacks."

" _Me_?"

"Yes, you." She gives him a look. "You take the nuclear missile through the wormhole, Tony.  Then, they close it with you still on the other side.  The things you saw give you nightmares and you have a hard time coping.  You get better but there's a lot you go through before you get there."

Tony takes a second to absorb what she says before he registers what she says. "Wait...a nuke?  Someone authorizes a nuclear strike on New York City?!"

"Oh yeah." She huffs, annoyed. "I have no idea how SHIELD gets away with that but I guess when you take it through the portal, you make it look like that was part of the plan?  I don't know. It was a movie for me for so long I don't know how that would actually translate into reality."

"It wouldn't." Tony frowns.  As a weapons manufacturer, he is highly aware that authorizing a nuclear strike on a populated area, no matter the reason, would have all the nations in the world up in arms.  Against the United States, without the President's approval?  Oh, that's a very big and very ugly mess.

"What can you tell me about the serum?"

"Its called Extremis and it makes people who take to it heat up and explode. In the film, you say something about a misfire and- _oh_!" Her eyes light up and she grins. "AIM! That's the name of the company."

"AIM?"

"It stands for something, I don't know, but its the name of the villain's company."

"I've added it to the list, Sir."

"Thanks buddy." Tony sighs and grabs from the snack tray. "So, at the end I win, right?"

"Yeah, you blow up the other suits, too. Which I never understood. Why? They were all pretty badass and I bet they'd be useful in other areas if you put your mind to it.  But besides that, you make up with Pepper and get the arc reactor taken out."

"With Extremis, right?"

His brain has been alight with ideas and moves ever since she started talking.  He knows he believed her the second she mentioned the poisoning and while he doesn't want to believe half of everything she's saying, he really can't.  He can't afford not to because if he does and the worse happens? That's on him.  When she nods, he relaxes and makes a few notes on the tablet, also resolutely ignoring the part about Pepper.

He can see how that might have turned out except for one little hiccup.  He's seen Pepper as family for over two years now.  Maybe it could have moved into the romance area but with Rikki here, that possible didn't happen and Pepper has moved seamlessly into the role of sister figure.  Its like they were never strangers and he's also very much aware of the basic principles of Chaos Theory.  He shelves all of the 'what ifs' for another time and gets ready for another round of harsh realities.

"Thor comes back for another alien invasion in London.  I only remember that it involves Dark Elves, dimensions breaking apart or something like that, Frigga, Thor and Loki's mother dies.  Oh, and that Loki fakes his death."

"Fucking..." Tony closes his eyes, sighs, and opens them again. "Okay. Next disaster please."

"SHIELD is discovered to be infiltrated by Hydra."

Tony chokes on air.  He knows all about Hydra, the WWII organization lead by the Red Skull.  His father bragged about Rogers enough to know about some of the events that took place like the fight against Red Skull. Speaking of...

"Red Skull was reported to have disintegrated due to the Tesseract..." A slow dawning horror grows inside of him. "...but if the Tesseract is the Space Stone, then he didn't die."

Dear god.  The psychopath could be anywhere in the universe.  The only upside that Tony can see is that getting back to Earth would mean meeting other aliens and looking very much not human like would mean having a hard time convincing anyone to give him a ride back here.  

"Yeah. He's probably stuck somewhere out in the universe. He's not a problem right now though. Its his organization that is."

"Because its been siting all cozy inside SHIELD."

"Yup." She pops the 'p' at the end. "That entire film was a mess that was just...ugh..."

She doesn't explain any further just going over the events that take place.  Again, she doesn't remember the tiny details but she remembers more than the others.  The Helicarriers with his tech and the purpose of them, the Winter Soldier and his true identity, a bunker with a man in a machine who feared death and who died anyway.  Fury faking his death and the absolute impossibility that she describes next promises to give him nightmares.

The complete exposure of classified information on the internet.

Tony feels his breath constrict.

Rikki's disgust is more practical but also detached, secret information released without a filter and released to the public.  Intellectually, she knows that's bad but she doesn't _know_.  Just like Tony didn't know his weapons were being used against the people they were supposed to protect.  Like the soldiers in the humvee who died trying to protect him.

That's what that is.  Hydra was exposed, yes, but so was SHEILD and hundred, maybe even thousands, of other agents and their families.  People in Witness Protection.  Agents undercover and on foreign soil.  What about the non-agents?  The people who work HR or technicians who keep the equipment in top shape? _Jesus Christ_.

"You take in Maria Hill and I think you take in some agents, too. I'm not sure."

"I...I wouldn't be surprised."

Surprise and horror are his default feelings. Its followed by a hefty douse of nausea and disgust as he listens to the rest of what she says.  Of what the Widows says to the committee and how _he_ reacts.  How he takes them in as if they did nothing wrong and for a moment he can't understand it.  He can't comprehend it.  Not until he has to remind himself that the events and people Rikki describe are not him and his actions but they are possibilities.  

Tony doesn't like it, doesn't like the image he sees the more he connects the things she says with what he knows so far.  He can't say one way or another how he'll react just yet because he hasn't had any real dealings with them since he turned down Fury's offer.  But he knows he will, soon.

"After that? I guess the band gets back together?"

"The Avengers reassemble, yeah, and you guys are off going after Hydra."

"Of course." Tony grabs his emotions and shoves everything to the side.  He needs more information and while he's glad Rikki is sharing, he's also frustrated that he can't see what she sees in her head.  He doesn't have her memories and he can't look up these movies to go over the details she's missing because they don't _exist_ here.  He has to make due.

"Remember the scepter?"

"Dear god." He almost doesn't want to know. Almost.

"This one I remember better because the ending pissed me off." She scowls, absolutely offended. "There are these two people, siblings who get powers from the scepter and who work for Hydra..."

What follows is a story that both baffles and fills him with a stuttering terror.  Because Tony doesn't have the arc reactor, he isn't immune to the Stone's influence but keeping the arc reactor isn't an option because the human body isn't supposed to live like this and Tony knows he couldn't live every second of his life wondering if someone will try to rip his heart out of his chest. Once with Stane is enough, thank you.

But what the Witch does...what she triggers...its just...just-

And JARVIS, his JARVIS suffers for it and the others turning against him? Roger's little rant about _dying_ together?  How is that even...! He can't accept this rendition of reality.  Where his AI dies and a Hydra agent is forgiven for sending off the deep end.  He can't accept that the others of this ' _team_ ' would agree to take in the same Hydra agent who abused her powers, set off the Hulk, and forced his hand in to creating a humanity hating AI!

"I need a minute."

She doesn't stop him when he gets up and heads outside.  He's grateful that she doesn't look at him with pity.  He couldn't stand it if she did. There was an understanding there, a knowing in her eyes that comforts him as he walks away. ( _Betrayal cuts deep, she knows.  When Charlotte became one of them, when Lewis made a reckless mistake that nearly cost them everything, and when Zane refused to accept her for who she is. Yes, Rikki knows how deep betrayal can hurt.  She knows how it leaves its mark. At least, Lewis learned from his but Rikki can't say for sure if some of the Avengers ever learned from theirs._ )

( _It doesn't make the hurt go away.  It doesn't mean the marks go away._ )

* * *

Its late by the time they come back together so Rikki can finish.

They've had dinner and cleaned their plates, taking the time to enjoy the break and the domesticity of the moment.  Tony takes his seat and pulls her to his side.  If he holds her a little tighter than before she makes no mention of it.

"The next bit is easy to remember."

"Its the most recent you've watched."

"Yeah," she nods her head before a grin takes over and she teases, "along with introducing your spider son."

"My...my what?!" the bewildered look is a good change from the haunted and horrified one he wore earlier.

"Another hero you recruit and practically adopt later." She pats his arm with her grin still in place. "But I'll get to that. This one starts in Lagos..."

It is not easy to listen to the Civil War.  The deaths in Lagos, the power grab by Ross, and the disconnect with the United Nations.  How Ross managed to get one over the entirety of the United Nations Tony doesn't understand but he supposes that's where the filmmakers were counting on the audience to suspend actual belief of how the UN works.  Or they are counting on the average citizen not knowing how the organization worked at all.

Which isn't much of a stretch.  Hearing about the kid from Queens is... _ ~~we are not touching this right now, thank you and good bye!~~_  But T'Challa losing his shit is something to keep in mind and the amount of power that Ross manages to get, or somehow manages to blackmail his way into getting. Its something he'll have to keep an eye on because having a superpower strike force at his beck and call is not what he signed up for when he built the suit.

T'Chaka, however, sounds like someone he should talk to.  If his stance on peace and responsibility is genuine.  He wouldn't know until he actually spoke to him.  When she starts on the fighting, he has to remind himself that it's not real.  Everything she says came from a movie and none of it might even happen because she's here and she changed things.

Tony still flinches when first, Vision, than Peter go down, and has a hard time not loosening his grip on her side when she mentions Rhodey, _his_ Rhodey falling.  He's grateful that she takes a minute and stops. Let's him collect himself before going on. Except he notices the pauses are longer than before and that she's wrapped her arms around him.  He notices that her grip is just as tight.

He almost doesn't want to know. _Almost_.

"When you get to Siberia, Zemo is waiting and the other soldiers are dead.  His plan was never to let them out.  His plan was never to let them live.  It was always about the Avengers.  It was about Sokovia and Captain America."

There's an intensity to her.  A furious tempo just beneath the skin.  She covers it well.  

"Zemo plays a video.  He wants you to watch it so you do.  Its about a car driving down a road.  You recognize it and the car...the time on the video shows its 1991..."

When he stiffens, she knows he's already connecting the dots. "The Winter Soldier shoots out a tire and the driver loses control.  Both of them survive but the Soldier comes back around..."

Her voice falls away and Tony feels his breath catch in his chest.  He knows what she's implying.  She doesn't have to finish and he hopes she doesn't.  He hopes she does.

"The Winter Soldier murders Howard and Maria Stark." She bites the bullet and forces the words out.  But her grip on him doesn't falter. "He makes it look like an accident.  He opens the trunk and takes the serum inside."

"Did he know?" Did Rogers _know_? Did _he know?_ _Did he know?!_ **_Did he know?!_**

 ** _"_** You turn to him and ask, he tries to lie but you see right through him.  You ask him again and he says 'yes'." Tony surges up, wanting to get away, fight and scream.  But her hold is strong and her weight keeps him down.  He goes to lift her, to get her off, but she resist.  The wind is knocked out of him.  It takes a second for him to realize that she's using her power to keep him in his seat and the more he struggles the more tired he gets.

Time is irrelevant.  Her power means nothing.  He fights anyway.

He claws at air until he's too exhausted to fight and slumps into the couch. She lets him go and hugs him. Tony wraps his arms around her and _clings_. He feels the world tilting, tumbling and he can't handle it.  The vertigo makes him feel sick.  When he starts to cry, he fails to notice.  He just buries his face into her neck and lets go.  For the first time since he was an toddler, he wails his sorrow out into the world.

His grief pours out in a torrent he cannot stop, unable to stop the flow.  Rikki holds him, her hands unrelenting, a lighthouse in a storm of tumulus emotion that threatens to drown him alive. But she never pushes him away, she doesn't denounce his anguish.  She is warm.

She feels like safety.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended in a sad note and that...that wasn't my intention. I...I don't know what happened.
> 
> Urk! This story is getting away from me! ><
> 
> I hope you liked it and I'll see you guys next chapter!


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